CORVETTE RACING AT WATKINS GLEN: Magnussen Qualifies Second in No. 3 C7.R
Corvette DPs second and third at head of Watkins Glen Six Hours grid
2014-06-28


· First event at Watkins Glen for Corvette Racing
· Last-lap run by Magnussen takes second in GTLM
· Fittipaldi leads Corvette DP contingent in second overall

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 28, 2014) – Corvette Racing’s Jan Magnussen qualified second Saturday in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. The Dane turned a lap of 1:44.376 (117.268 mph) in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R that he shares with Antonio Garcia. Sunday’s race will be Corvette Racing’s first event at Watkins Glen International.

Magnussen’s best lap was his final one and moved him from fourth to the outside front row by a scant 0.001 seconds over the third-place BMW.

Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette C7.R was seventh in class with a lap of 1:44.783 (116.813 mph) and will drive with Oliver Gavin. Corvette Racing is on a two-race winning streak in the TUDOR Championship with Garcia and Magnussen standing second in the class championship.

The Watkins Glen event is the second endurance race in three weeks for Corvette Racing, which finished second and fourth in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Chevrolet stands third in the GTLM manufacturer standings but is only four points out of first.

In the team championship, the No. 3 Corvette C7.R is second and five points out of the lead. The No. 4 Corvette stands fourth.

CORVETTE DP: Fittipaldi second overall for Action Express Racing
Action Express Racing’s try at a third consecutive Watkins Glen victory will begin from the outside of the front row in the Prototype class. Christian Fittipaldi was second-fastest in Action Express Racing’s No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype. The Brazilian set a best lap of 1:38.560 (124.188 mph) in the car he shares with Joao Barbosa.

A victory wouldn’t just be the third straight for the team at Watkins Glen, it also would be the second of the year for Barbosa and Fittipaldi. The duo won with Sebastian Bourdais in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Michael Valiante was third in Spirit of Daytona’s No. 90 Corvette DP, which he drives with Richard Westbrook. Valiante was just 0.132 seconds off Fittipaldi’s pace at 1:38.692 (124.022 mph). The pairing is coming off a runner-up finish at Detroit.

Chevrolet leads the Prototype Engine Manufacturer standings by six points.

Live television coverage of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen starts at 11 a.m. ET, Sunday on FOX Sports 1.


GTLM QUOTES
JAN MAGNUSSEN, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“I’m quite happy with the result. It’s not pole position but this is a long race and it seems like we have a pretty good race car. We have done some consistent long runs so far. It would have been nice to find a little more time but both BMWs were very strong. We will see what we can do with them in the race. It’d be cool to win one of the races of the Patron North American Endurance Cup but the GT championship is what matters and we have to make sure we get the most out of tomorrow.
“We didn’t come here and test. We had Le Mans. The session we did yesterday was purely to gather data and prepare for today. I’m happy with the progress we’ve made. Now we can go back to find a little bit more that can give us the upper hand in the race.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R
“We’ve struggled the whole weekend the car. It was bad again on the first day here and we decided to change a lot of fundamentals on the car. The No. 4 car crew worked really hard to get it out for the second practice. Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of running; traffic is unbelievable. But we had clean runs in qualifying that’s the best the car has felt in quite awhile - since Sebring really. We’ve been a little lost as to why we’ve struggled so much but I’m really proud of our guys for working as hard as they have to get the car better. But now we’re in the ballpark.”

DOUG FEHAN, CORVETTE RACING PROGRAM MANAGER
“Considering our lack of any testing data at Watkins Glen, starting second in GTLM is a great achievement. Jan Magnussen’s last qualifying lap was important in that it does split our BMW competitors. Although the track is new to Corvette Racing, we are well experienced in what it takes to win endurance races of this length. We are confident in both our Chevrolet Corvette C7.Rs.”

CORVETTE DP QUOTES
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
“I’m pretty happy. It’s not like at other places where we didn’t get a clear run or we made a mistake on the setup. The car is very good and this is our reality. For the same reasons that some tracks have gone our way, I am now competing against a car that has 300 pounds less than mine and has good horsepower and this place has a lot of corners. In one aspect, I’m a little surprised we qualified second. I’m happily surprised. We will take it. The car is very good and let’s work hard tomorrow in the race to get a three-peat.”

JIM LUTZ, CORVETTE DAYTONA PROTOTYPE PROGRAM MANAGER
“Second and third in qualifying for two of our Corvette Daytona Prototypes are not bad results. It appears the P2 cars have an advantage over one lap in qualifying trim but we will see where things stand in race trim and over long runs. We are confident in the experience of our teams at Watkins Glen.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.9 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.





Ryan Smith


Judy Kouba Dominick

I'll take it ...

Here is Olly's report:

Challenges faced and resolved at Watkins Glen
29/06/2014
In today’s 15-minute GTLM qualifying session for tomorrow’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at the iconic New York track of Watkins Glen, Tommy Milner in the No.4 Corvette Racing C7.R qualified 7th with a fastest lap of 1:44.783. Pole position went to the No.55 BMW ahead of the No.3 Corvette of Jan Magnussen.

Milner’s team mate, Olly, commented: “We’ve had a really big issue over the last few events with a handling imbalance in our car, probably since before Laguna Seca. We haven’t been able to get rid of it and it was an issue even at Le Mans. The decision was taken today before the last practice to change some structural things on the chassis such as cradles, and we think we’ve made a big step forward. The reports back from Tommy were very positive because in this morning’s session when I was driving the car was very tricky and hard to drive. We were at least a second off our sister car and we seemed to be struggling.

“We made the changes and it was looking good but then there were the red flag interruptions, which caused the same problems for everybody, but then the fire bottle exploded in the car! It was like someone had taken a can opener and just taken the whole top off it. It was extraordinary and no one at the team had ever seen it before…we were all sitting there on the timing stand wondering what else could possibly go wrong. Maybe that’s the turning point for us!

“Tommy did a brilliant job in qualifying. We went back to basics with the car’s set up and, with all these other structural changes that had been made to the chassis. We’re now starting a way down and are going to have to work away to find a decent balance. Tommy had quite a lot of understeer in that qualifying session so did a fantastic job to get us into p7, just three tenths from the No.3 car. We feel like we’re in the fight at least and we’re going to work away with the car in warm up and we’ll see where we are in the race. It’s certainly a lot more positive than it was this morning. It’s been a difficult few events for us but hopefully we’ve now turned the corner.”